Well, that’s the thing: originally, the show was billed with Rob Lowe as the star, which is a large part of the reason why he was making so much more than the others. As things progressed it very quickly became clear that this was an ensemble show instead. (IIRC, Sorkin’s original idea was that you’d never see the president at all.) In that light I can definitely see why the network didn’t want to raise RL’s salary, considering they probably regretted starting his salary out as high as they did in the first place.
As for Charlie and Zoey, the relationship simply hasn’t been mentioned - hell, ZOEY simply hasn’t been mentioned - since early in the second season. No clue whether they’re together or not.
Depends on what state he’s running in. New Jersey would be a logical choice (he’s Mr. Princeton), but they had their primary on June 4. BTW, what is his home state? Maryland has a late primary, September 10, so he could run from the DC suburbs. In fact, the CD with the highest percentage for Gore while still sending a Republican to Congress is in the Montgomery County suburbs in Maryland… They could have Sam run for that seat. However, I don’t think the timing would work out very well. They want him to leave in March. I’m guessing that his home congressman dies or resigns mid-term, and he moves back to the district in March to run in a special election, if he does run for Congress. He could also get a big private sector job, or be sent off to one of the cabinet agencies as deputy secretary or something or other (these people are rarely, if ever, in the White House). There are a lot of possibilities for Mr. Seaborn, and I’m definitely watching the shows leading up to his exit.
I also can’t wait to see what they do for the election. You know Aaron Sorkin was kicking himself after Election 2000 saying, “Dammit, I was gonna do that!”
Well it’s spoiled the forthcoming plot for me where he’s written out. Does everyone else on the boards read the MSNBC homepage religiously? Am I missing out on something?
Been in the NY Daily News and Washington Post too. Good sized articles, too. I didn’t see the webpage, I saw the papers (OK, the POST I read on the web) It’s only a spoiler if they tell you HOW he gets out.
Look at it this way -he signed a contract, expecting to be the star, getting the star money. Sheen stepped up, and became the big star. Now he gets the bug bucks. Spencer, COS and a FAR better actor, is upgraded in salary. Still under Lowe. He’s liek the deputy comm guy. This looks like a McLean Stevenson.
Most websites, fansites, etc. stipulate that casting news is not a spoiler. For instance, if they have a special message board for spoilers, or require the use of spoiler tags, those rules do not apply to casting news.
However, I personally find casting news to be at least as capable of spoiling future viewing as storyline information, if not more so. YMMV.
There is a good piece on Rob Lowe’s departure in the Washington Post. I tend to agree with the Washington Post column. Although Rob may feel that he deserves a raise like everyone else, he comes off looking like a spoiled brat who is upset that he is no longer the center of attention. OTOH, if he is truly unhappy working on The West Wing, he has every right to quit.
(On preview I see that others have made the spoiler point before me. BTW, the counter example to Long and Caruso is George Clooney, who left a successful show at the height of his popularity – after a stunningly mediocre career – and went on to become a big movie star.)
OK so RL is leaving, maybe Martin Sheen can give either Emilio Estevez or Charlie Sheen a job. What good is being the Pres, albeit on TV, if you can’t throw a little nepotism around.